This invention relates to a self-regulating valve allowing independent control of flow rate and activation pressure for use in an irrigation system.
Drip irrigation is a means of reducing the water required to irrigate by up to 60%, and it has been shown to be a successful development strategy enabling poor farmers to rise out of poverty by growing more and higher value crops. The barrier to drip irrigation achieving large-scale dissemination is the cost of the pump and power system. The power consumption is equal to the product of flow rate and pressure. For a given farm, the flow rate is predetermined by the type of the crop; the primary opportunity to reduce the power consumption is to lower pumping pressure.
Pressure compensation is a means of maintaining a constant flow rate from a drip emitter under varying applied pressure—an important feature for a low pressure dripper network where pressure from the pump to the end of the line can vary by a factor of three.